Ski View? Google Street View takes to the slopes

Are you not really into hitting the slopes this winter, and would rather live vicariously through other skiers while sipping a mug of hot chocolate? If so, the latest Street View addition from Google might get your attention. The company’s mapping service has been updated with select ski and snow locations.

As you might expect, the ski and slope editions of Google Street View operate a lot like the standard Street View. You get 360° panoramic views of various points of the locations. As always, you can zoom and pan, and click the arrow to move on to the next point.

The image above is no joke, as Google actually used a Street View snowmobile to take the shots. The recreational vehicle went down three North American ski slopes with its 360° camera in tow.

Google has posted Street View images for Squaw Valley in Northern California, Breckenridge Skii Resort in Colorado, and Whistler Blackcomb in Canada. The company didn’t mention plans for additional slopes, so that may be all you get for this year.

You can find some impressive shots from the mountains if you poke around a little bit. We’ve gathered some of our favorite frames from the “Ski View” below (note that we enhanced the images to maximize your viewing pleasure):

Whistler Blackcomb, British Columbia

Breckenridge, CO

Breckenridge, CO

Squaw Valley, CA

You can see more from Google in the clip below. After that, feel free to explore the slopes yourself at the source link below (hot chocolate is optional).

Source: http://www.geek.com/articles/geek-cetera/ski-view-google-street-view-takes-to-the-slopes-20111125/

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